Jessops enter Administration

[Degudodger]

Well it was only a matter of time but today Jessops filled for administration.
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/jessops-set-administration-135242567.html

[andrewparker]

No surprise really. They always had a reputation for being expensive and unable to offer professional advice. They didn't even compete for price online.

[RedRobin]

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Jessops shop staff were usually somewhat arrogant. I think they fancied that they were the new Wallace Heaton but WH gave excellent and caring customer service.

[Degudodger]

Just before Christmas i went into my local Jessops superstore as i was thinking of taking advantage of the current Canon Cashback promotion and buying a 70-200 f2.8 lens with a view to haggling on their price to get close to Amazon who were the cheapest at the time. Not only were they not interested but they tried to convince me the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 would not fit on my 5D MK2 as i needed a EF-s fit lens like the 55-250mm lens. I walked out.

[rich83]

Just before Christmas i went into my local Jessops superstore as i was thinking of taking advantage of the current Canon Cashback promotion and buying a 70-200 f2.8 lens with a view to haggling on their price to get close to Amazon who were the cheapest at the time. Not only were they not interested but they tried to convince me the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 would not fit on my 5D MK2 as i needed a EF-s fit lens like the 55-250mm lens. I walked out.

Jokers!!

[Hedge]

One of my work mates had an interesting experience.

He returned his Nikon D200 saying it back focused. The store were benused by this and after some to-ing and fro-ing sent it to their support centre of excellence somewhere in London.

The guy rang my mate up and said of course it focuses 'cos it beeps when you press the shutter. Oh dear!

They subsequently dropped it and dented it so you couldn't open the memory card door and had to replace it anyway and the new one didn't exhibit the same problem. 

[garrardrj]

Bought my Holiday camera from them as i had some Tesco vouchers to use up. They tried to sell me a memory card stating my old one wouldn't work and i told them it would . I said i would buy another but not  at their prices and asked why they charged so much for memory sticks . The salesman refused to answer the question . They wanted £40 for the same one i bought on line for £10 delivered !
It is sad to see them go as they have been about for a long while but they failed to move with the times and adapt their business to fit the modern shopper. They also had too many outlets .

[Deako]

When the most popular camera on Flickr etc is an iPhone, you know the camera industry is going to suffer. Obviously, they were just non-competitive too. Shame, always liked window shopping there. Think the only thing I ever bought was a monopod and lowepro.

[john a]

They were offering memory cards through Groupon recently which a lot of people must have bought, I wonder if the orders will get fulfilled.

[Mk5 GTian]

The High Street is on it's death-bed. We soon won't be able to buy anything decent face to face. I prefer to pay a few pounds more and get to see the item, feel it, use it, and then get some value-added service post-purchase. I know Jessops is a bad example of this, but there are a lot of shops which are going under which do offer good after-sales.

You can't compete on price with a couple of blokes with a warehouse, computer and phone-line, so you have to offer brilliant pre and post purchase service and a pleasurable shopping experience to survive.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
I'm the same - I only buy anything online as a very last resort even if it appears to cost less to shop online. In reality it doesn't always cost less by the time you have added shipping.

When I bought my Aquapac for my camera I phoned the local chandler I know in Weymouth harbour. He didn't have them in stock but checked his supplier, phoned me back within half-an-hour, offered to match the online price to include shipping and I paid him by Debit Card. He had it sent direct to me by his supplier - It arrived the next day and that was during the very busy christmas period too.



^ When I bought the camera (leather case on my belt) I went into a local camera shop in Dorchester and had a chat and look at various options. It cost me more than online but she threw in the leather case for free. When I went back to her a few weeks later for a tripod, she did me a deal. And yes, the fact that she was pretty and very friendly with a good sense of humour did make my whole shopping experience that much more enjoyable. Sorry, no pics of her to post though.

[wigit]

Jessops had lost their way for a while, their accessory prices on bags etc were always 30% higher, in reality they also didn't in reality carry that much hardware in for display, there are some great camera places on line who give great advice

friend on mine went to work for them and even with her staff discount i got my 550D cheaper on line, i've never ventured since then, classic case of a firm who got their property strategy in terms of location

i got badly let down by Amazon at Christmas so ended up shopping locally on the high street and in reality probably only paid 5% but got some customer service

[Degudodger]

My preference is to buy from a bricks and mortar store. Over the years i must have bought over £10k worth of camera Porn equipment and have sometimes paid a little more than the best online price in favour of convenience.

[Deako]

It wouldnt be a RedRobin post if it didnt have a sh*t picture to accompany it. Ahhh, how much time have i wasted in my life scrolling past them. Can anyone enlighten me?

Just kidding Robin!! 

[RedRobin]

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Another advantage of buying from a 'bricks-n-mortar' shop is that you can build a good relationship and get given a lot of help because you are appreciated as a regular customer. This often includes discount without even asking for it.

However, Jessops got it wrong in lots of ways. Everything always comes down to the people you deal with face-to-face in any business - The kitchen supplies shop in my town is run by a nasty dragon but the one 15 miles away is run by a really helpful Jewish guy originally from Birmingham and I get everything kitchen-wise from him and often drop in just for a social banter. I always recommend people to him and he appreciates that.